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Day Seizes Masters Lead as Tiger Stumbles
Aussie Quartet Target Masters Jinx
McIlroy Stays Patient and Moves up in Masters
Guan Makes Cut and More History at Masters
Day Seizes Masters Lead as Tiger Stumbles
AUGUSTA, Georgia, April 12, 2013 (AFP) - A Masters second round that tested how top golfers handle adversity Friday saw Tiger Woods stumble, Jason Day take the lead and teen Guan Tianlang make the cut despite a rare slow-play penalty.
Day, hoping to be Australia's first Masters champion, shot a four-under par 68 to stand on six-under 138 and take a one-stroke lead over countryman Marc Leishman and Fred Couples, trying at 53 to become the oldest major winner.
"It's a hard course out there," Couples said. "They put most of the pins in, I thought, really hard spots."
Breaking Australia's Masters jinx, a hex best known by the frustrations of Greg Norman's near-misses, weighs on Day's mind as he looks down on the rest of his rivals as the weekend looms.
"Obviously there's a lot of pressure on my shoulders, being from Australia and no Australian has ever won the event," he said. "They have been very, very close, but I've just got to try to get that out of my mind and just plug away."
Top-ranked Woods took a share of the lead late before a demoralizing setback at the par-5 15th when his ball hit the flagstick and went into a water hazard. He shot a 71 to stand on 141, among 26 sub-par players within five of the lead.
"I thought I played really well, a round that should have been in the 60s," Woods said. "I played really well."
Woods, a 14-time major champion chasing the all-time record of 18 majors won by Jack Nicklaus, seeks his first major title since the 2008 US Open and first Masters victory since capturing his fourth green jacket in 2005.
Guan Tianlang, the 14-year-old Chinese schoolboy who became the youngest player in Masters history, became the first player in a major to be assessed a slow-play penalty since France's Gregory Bourdy at the 2010 PGA Championship.
"I respect the decision they make," Guan said. "This still is a wonderful experience for me. I have enjoyed playing in the Masters and I think I did a pretty good job."
After being warned and having his pace timed, Guan was given the penalty stroke for a bogey at 17, putting him on the eventual cut line and forcing him to wait until the last group finished to know if he would play on the weekend.
Guan finished on 75 in the second round and on four-over 148 for 36 holes, right on the limit that included 61 players within 10 strokes of the lead.
"Today is pretty hard because if you're timed only 40 seconds, it's pretty hard because you need to make the decision," Guan said. "The wind switched a lot."
A day after 45 players fired par or better, wind and tougher pin positions over the 7,435-yard layout kept the world's top golfers struggling simply to hold their positions.
"It was tough. There were a few pins tucked away," Leishman said. "A few of the easy holes were made tough because of the wind. I was pleased at the way I was able to fight back."
Couples, the 1992 Masters champion, has teased age history at the Masters before in recent years, leading after the first round in 2010 only to finish sixth and leading after the second round last year only to share 12th.
The oldest champion in major golf history was Julius Boros, who was 48 when he won the 1968 PGA Championship. The oldest winner in Masters history was Jack Nicklaus, who won his 18th and final major crown at age 46 at the 1986 Masters.
Argentina's Angel Cabrera, the 2009 Masters winner, birdied five of the last six holes to fire a 69 and stand two off the pace at 140 alongside Americans Jim Furyk and Brandt Snedeker.
At 15, Woods struck the flagstick with his third shot and saw it roll into the water.
"I thought it was a good one," Woods said. "I was pretty pissed."
After a penalty stroke, he repeated the shot and then made a tap-in bogey.
"From making birdie there, I've got to struggle just to lose two shots," he said.
Woods was in a group at 141 that included Australian Adam Scott, American Jason Dufner, South Korean K.J. Choi and Englishmen Lee Westwood, Justin Rose and David Lynn. Only Woods among them has ever won a major.
A pack on 142 included 2011 Masters winner Charl Schwartzel of South Africa, 1985 and 1993 Masters champion Bernhard Langer of Germany, Spaniards Sergio Garcia and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Aussie John Senden and Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, the 2011 US Open and 2012 PGA Championship winner whose round of 70 included an eagle at eight.
"Digging in and grinding it out was pleasing for me," McIlroy said. "The eagle on the eighth really got me going. A 70 was a good score today. You had to be really disciplined."
Dustin Johnson was a victim of tougher conditions, playing the last five holes in six-over after having led by two strokes.
Among those who missed the cut were South Korean Yang Yong-Eun, American Webb Simpson, Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell, South African Louis Oosthuizen and Ireland's Padraig Harrington -- all past major winners.
Aussie Quartet Target Masters Jinx
AUGUSTA, Georgia, April 12, 2013 (AFP) - The 77th Masters sees the smallest Australian representation in the tournament since 2002, but the four who did make it to Augusta National are well in the hunt at the halfway stage.
Jason Day leads at six-under par 138, Marc Leishman is tied for second a shot back, Adam Scott is nicely poised at three-under and John Senden is in the mix at two-under.
What faces them at the weekend is finally putting to rest the Georgia jinx that has seen Australians come agonizingly close to winning the Masters several times in the past only to come up short at the death.
Greg Norman suffered the greatest last-day collapse in major championship history at the 1996 Masters, leading by six over Nick Faldo only to lose by five to the Englishman.
Norman also finished with a bogey in the 1986 Masters to hand Jack Nicklaus his 18th and last major title. In 1987, Norman lost a playoff when Augusta native Larry Mize holed a miraculous chip shot.
And in 2011, Scott and Day shared second, falling short when South African Charl Schwartzel became the first man to birdie the final four holes to win a major.
Australians have won every other major golf crown.
Day, who had the day's best score of 68 to take the lead, passing Tiger Woods on the way, said he was aware of the expectations placed on him by golf fans back home in Australia and wanted to avoid being worn down by this.
"Obviously there's a lot of pressure on my shoulders, being from Australia and no Australian has ever won the event," he said.
"They have been very, very close, but I've just got to try to get that out of my mind and just plug away.
"It's all how you look at it. If you look at it as pressure, you're going to worry about it more.
"If you look at it as a challenge and an opportunity to be the first and stay positive with it, you know, it only motivates you to play well.
"So I've just got to really not think about it at all I really need to stay committed to the game plan, stay aggressive to my target.
"Just not really worry about anything else but hitting the shot in front of me."
Leishman, who was the joint leader with Sergio Garcia after the first round, held steady with a 73 to join 53-year-old American Fred Couples in a tie for second.
"That's good, because I think there's only four of us in this week," he said when told that the all the Australians were well placed high up the leaderboard.
"Yeah, pretty impressive so far. Hopefully it's like that Sunday night. So you know, who knows, hopefully one of us can knock it off."
Senden could have been even higher up the leaderboard, as he was four-under through 15 holes, but bogeys at 16 and 17 brought him in with a 70.
"I was in there for a while and I was really happy the way I held my composure with the wind and the conditions," he said. "But anything in the red is a good chance for the weekend.
"It was good to see Jason (Day) and Marc (Leishman) there too. It gives you a lot of inspiration to try and be part of a team, the Aussie team. You got to get into it."
McIlroy Stays Patient and Moves up in Masters
AUGUSTA, Georgia, April 12, 2013 (AFP) - Rory McIlroy played himself back into Masters contention on Friday, employing the kind of "grind-it-out" attitude to his round that has been his downfall in the past.
The 23-year-old world number two from Northern Ireland was disappointed with Thursday's opening round, when he could only manage level-par 72 on a day when playing conditions and pin locations were ideal for low scoring.
With the wind getting up, the rain coming down and the pins pushed out scarily to the edges for the second round, most players found they were shooting higher.
McIlroy, though, went the other way with a two-under 70 that leaves him handily placed going into the weekend at two-under 142.
"I made a lot of good putts for pars on the front nine," he said. "I mean I didn't play my best for the first few holes and the eighth hole (eagle) really got me going, really kick started me.
"Then I started to hit some really good quality shots. I took advantage of a couple of easier holes on the back nine, 13, 14.
"Anything under par today was going to be a good score and I stayed patient out there when I needed to and it was a good day."
Staying patient when the conditions require it has not always been McIlroy's strength, most notably at the 2010 British Open at St. Andrews, when the wind got up in the second round, and when he blew a four-stroke lead going into the final round of the 2011 Masters.
But his two major title wins, at the 2011 US Open and at last year's PGA Championship - both by eight strokes, have shown that he can play the kind of error-free golf that major tournaments require.
The eagle he sunk at the par-five eighth, where he hit a superb five-wood from 275 yards out to eight feet, was the turning point of Friday's round after he had opened with bogeys at the first and third.
Birdies followed at 13 and 14 and although he dropped a third shot at the par-three 16th, he hit a fine approach to the last and sunk a 10-footer for birdie.
All in all, he said he was happy with the way things were going at the halfway stage in what is the first major tournament he has played with his new Nike clubs following his switch of supplier during the winter break..
"I'm comfortable with my game, I'm happy with this position going into the weekend," he said.
Guan Makes Cut and More History at Masters
AUGUSTA, Georgia, April 12, 2013 (AFP) - Chinese schoolboy Guan Tianlang rocked the golfing world on Friday by making the cut at the 77th Masters despite being penalized one shot for slow play in the second round.
But he needed to endure an agonizing wait of several hours until the final grouping came in to be sure that he had survived.
The 14-year-old from Guangzhou, who is the youngest player in Masters history, was sanctioned as he played the 17th hole. That meant he came in with a three-over par 75 and stood at four-over 148 after 36 holes.
Making the cut were the top 50 and level plus all players within 10 strokes and with the halfway lead later established at six-under 138, Guan was safely through, right on the limit, to play at the weekend.
He will be the youngest to play Saturday and Sunday at the Masters and he is the first player from mainland China to make the cut in the year's first major.
Guan is also certain to win the Silver Cup, which goes to the top amateur who completes 72 holes, as his five amateur rivals all failed to make the cut.
The Asian prodigy became the youngest player in the history of the Masters on Thursday when he carded a one-over 73 that included four birdies and five bogeys.
On Friday, he dropped two shots at the fourth and seventh, as heavy rain fell on Augusta National, to reach the turn in 38.
But with the weather brightening, he then calmly picked his way around the fearful Amen Corner -- holes 11, 12 and 13 -- without dropping a stroke.
He was parring his way in from there when referee John Paramor walked onto the course after Guan had played his second shot and informed him of the penalty sanction, having warned him already on the 13th hole.
"I played pretty good today," said Guan speaking after his round, but before he knew he had made the cut. "I know the rules pretty good. This is what they can do."
Guan became the first player punished for slow play in a major since Frenchman Gregory Bourdy at the 2010 PGA Championship.
"This still is a wonderful experience for me," Guan said. "I have enjoyed playing in the Masters and I think I did a pretty good job."
Playing partner Matteo Manassero said he had sympathy with Guan given the gusting winds that affected Augusta National on Friday, but he agreed that the Chinese youngster had been slow to play.
"I think it's the biggest thing he needs to be careful about, because I think he's ready," the Italian said.
"When the caddie pulls the club for him, I think he's ready. But he just sometimes... takes a little too long. He just asks questions that I think he knows, as well, but just to be sure, just to be clear in his mind.
"This certainly will be a very valuable lesson. He will never forget it for sure, and he will learn from it."
The leader at the halfway stage, Australian Justin Day, said he had been unaware that he could have eliminated Guan had he birdied one of the last two holes as that would have nudged him out of the 10-stroke zone.
Making the cut at such a high-pressure tournament at the age of 14 was beyond belief, he added.
"He's 14 years old. He's got everything to gain and nothing to lose, because he's got a lot of growing to do. He's still in school.
"Obviously it's an amazing achievement to get to the weekend at Augusta. And being able to play and experience what he's going to experience on the weekend, you can't buy that stuff.
"The only way you can do that is get to the weekend, and obviously he's got a boatload of talent.
"You know, he's been here preparing for two weeks. I talked to him earlier, and he seems like a really, really good kid.
"It's unfortunate that he received the penalty, but he can learn from that and move on and hopefully can play well over the next two days."
Guan won his ticket for the Masters in November when he won the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, a tournament sponsored by Augusta National Golf Club and the Royal & Ancient Club, to promote the game in the region.
There were fears that his slight frame and lack of big-time experience would see him collapse at what is one of the toughest and most fabled golf courses in the world.
But after playing practice rounds with and chatting to four-time former winner Tiger Woods and Crenshaw, Guan has stunned the world of golf with his skills and composure.
The two previous Chinese players to compete in the Masters, Zhang Lianwei in 2004 and Liang Wenchang in 2008, both failed to make the cut.
Guan will go out early on Saturday morning in theh company of rising Danish star Thorbjorn Olesen.
Collated scores on Friday during the second round of the 77th Masters at par-72 Augusta National Golf Club:
138 - Jason Day (AUS) 70-68
139 - Fred Couples (USA) 68-71, Marc Leishman (AUS) 66-73
140 - Angel Cabrera (ARG) 71-69, Jim Furyk (USA) 69-71, Brandt Snedeker (USA) 70-70
141 - Adam Scott (AUS) 69-72, Jason Dufner (USA) 72-69, David Lynn (ENG) 68-73, Lee Westwood (ENG) 70-71, Justin Rose (ENG) 70-71, KJ Choi (KOR) 70-71, Tiger Woods 70-71
142 - Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (ESP) 68-74, Bernhard Langer (GER) 71-71 Sergio Garcia (ESP) 66-76, Rory McIlroy (NIR) 72-70, Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 71-71, John Senden (AUS) 72-70
143 - Trevor Immelman (RSA) 68-75, Steve Stricker (USA) 73-70, Dustin Johnson (USA) 67-76, Matt Kuchar (USA) 68-75, Bill Haas (USA) 71-72, Ryan Moore (USA) 71-72, Luke Donald (ENG) 71-72
144 - David Toms (USA) 70-74, Michael Thompson (USA) 73-71, Scott Piercy (USA) 75-69, Rickie Fowler (USA) 72-68
145 - Ernie Els (RSA) 71-74, Bo Van Pelt (USA) 71-74, Fredrik Jacobson (SWE) 72-73, Sandy Lyle (SCO) 73-72, Richard Sterne (RSA) 73-72, Zach Johnson (USA) 69-76
146 - Paul Lawrie (SCO) 76-70, Thomas Bjorn (DEN) 73-73, Henrik Stenson (SWE) 75-71, Vijay Singh (FIJ) 72-74, Keegan Bradley, (USA) 73-73, Brian Gay (USA) 72-74, Kevin Na 70-76, Carl Pettersson (SWE) 76-70, Tim Clark (RSA) 70-76, Jose Maria Olazabal (ESP) 74-72, Stewart Cink (USA) 75-71
147 - D.A. Points (USA) 72-75, Nick Watney (USA) 78-69, Phil Mickelson (USA) 71-76, Martin Kaymer (GER) 72-75, Robert Garrigus (USA) 76-71, Peter Hanson (SWE) 72-75, John Huh (USA) 70-77
148 - Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN) 78-70, Guan Tianlang (CHN) 73-75, Lucas Glover 74-74, Branden Grace (RSA) 78-70, John Peterson (USA) 71-77, Ryo Ishikawa (JPN) (71-77), Bubba Watson (USA) 75-73
149 - Martin Laird (SCO) 76-73, Jamie Donaldson (WAL) 74-75, George Coetzee (RSA) 75-74, Matteo Manassero (ITA) 75-74, Yang Yong-Eun (KOR) 72-77, Larry Mize (73-76), Ted Potter (USA) 76-73, Webb Simpson (USA) 73-76, Graeme McDowell (NIR) 73-76
150 - Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 74-76
151 - John Merrick (USA) 74-77, Ben Curtis (USA) 76-75, Mark O'Meara (USA) 74-77, Mike Weir (CAN) 72-79, Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL) 74-77, Ian Poulter (ENG) 76-75
152 - Michael Weaver (USA) 78-74, TJ Vogel (USA) 77-75, Thaworn Wiratchant (THA) 79-73
153 - Russell Henley (USA) 72-81, Kevin Streelman (USA) 76-77, Padraig Harrington (IRL) 78-75
155 - Francesco Molinari (ITA) 74-81, Nathan Smith (USA) 77-78
157 - Tom Watson (USA) 79-77, Steven Fox (USA) 76-81
158 - Craig Stadler (USA) 79-79, Hunter Mahan (USA) 76-82, Ian Woosnam (WAL) 80-78
160 - Alan Dunbar (NIR) 83-77
164 - Ben Crenshaw (USA) 80-84, Hiroyuki Fujita (JPN) 79-85